Thought of the Day !!

Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:16-20

There are two things that caught my attention when reading this passage that is often call the Great Commission. First of all, there are only eleven disciples at this time. We know that the original number of disciples was twelve and that Judas (the betrayer) killed himself leaving eleven. We also know that one more was added in the book of Acts so that the number would again be twelve. But why?

This is because twelve was considered to be a perfect number in biblical days. And just as twelve was a perfect number, eleven was an imperfect number. But we see here that Jesus is speaking to the eleven. It is an imperfect numbered group being sent out to do the perfect mission.

This made me think of the Church. Ever since our beginning, we've been imperfect, splitting between east and west, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, and denomination after denomination. The things that we've done in the name of Jesus have been atrocious. Yet still God is using the imperfect Church to carry out the perfect mission of making disciples, baptizing and teaching to obey Christ. Why God picked such an imperfect group is beyond me. But He did. And so it's up to us to bring the gospel (good news) to the world.

And secondly, we must go. Notice that the commission was not to sit in their pews and make disciples. If we don't go into the world that needs Christ, even when it means going places we're not comfortable, then the world will never receive the good news. And it will be our fault.

Go into the world and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey the commands of Christ. Go into the world and bring Jesus to those who need him. Go into the world and you'll never be alone. Jesus will not only be with you. You might just find out that he was there before you.

In the love of Christ,
greg